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How Many Moons Does Earth Have?

If you look around our Solar System, many planets have multiple moons. Earth has only one: The Moon. But Earth may have had more than one moon in the past and may “capture” another moon in the future. Mars now has two moons, but Phobos is slowly spiraling in and will one day crash into the planet. Universe Today publisher Fraser Cain looks at Earth’s moons and the possibility of the Earth having more than one moon.

It’s fascinating to consider how life on Earth might be different over time and today if we had more than one moon. The effect on the tides might be significant and may affect life near the shores. And, depending on the size of the moon(s), we could have effects similar to what we might experience if an object like a large planet was instead orbiting the Earth.